Las Vegas Motor Speedway's ever improving vehicle flow for its March 10-12 NASCAR Weekend should be even better for this year's event, according to LVMS officials.

Over the past few years, the completion of the 215 beltway, new interchanges and wider roads have helped make ingress and egress from the speedway's property a constantly improving experience for race fans.

"The combination of better traffic planning, cooperation from all areas of transportation and law enforcement and the continued education of our race fans has dramatically improved vehicle flow over the past several years," said LVMS general manager Chris Powell.

The start times for both the March 11 Sam's Town 300 and UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 have been pushed later in the day. The Busch race will start at 3:30 p.m., while the Nextel Cup event is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. However, speedway officials are advising fans to come early.

"We still want people to continue to plan on arriving early and show patience when they are leaving," Powell said. Local fans living in the northern and western parts of the valley are encouraged to use the 215 Beltway.

"We have seen a steady increase in the number of cars using the 215," Powell said. "This is the best way for many of our local fans to come and go." Speedway officials also are encouraging as many race fans as possible to use buses and shuttles such as Citizens Area Transit (CAT) for transportation to the races.

This year's event also will see a crackdown on the fraudulent use of handicapped placards. Speedway security will be checking the validity of handicapped passes on each vehicle.

"We take caring for the handicapped very seriously at the speedway," Powell said. "It's important to us that handicapped fans coming to our race are not inconvenienced by those who are perfectly capable of parking in the general parking area." General parking is free at LVMS.

The race weekend kicks off with qualifying for both the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 on Friday, March 10. The Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series race will be held Saturday, March 11. There also will be two nights of the World of Outlaws on the half-mile dirt track Thursday, March 9 and 10. The UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 will cap the weekend on Sunday, March 12.